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DOD Plans Return to 'Defense Travel System'

In a memorandum released last month, the Defense Department announced that previous directions to begin using the new MyTravel system have been repealed, and agencies should instead return to using the existing Defense Travel System.  

"DOD organizations currently using MyTravel are no longer required to use the system," wrote Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr., undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, in a memorandum dated May 24. "Additionally, DOD organizations may suspend the planning and implementation of future financial system integrations."  

Both the Defense Travel System, or DTS, and MyTravel, are web-based applications that allow military and civilian personnel within the military services and DOD to plan official government travel.   

The systems automate the booking of flights, lodging and rental cars and also produce official travel orders. When returning from a trip, the systems allow for the documenting of expenses and the generation of vouchers so travelers can be compensated for their expenses.  

The Defense Travel System has been in use within the department for about 25 years. Before that, travel was planned using paper forms and telephones.  

In August 2018, the department announced it had selected SAP Concur's software as a service product, later branded as MyTravel, to replace DTS.  And in an October 2022 memorandum, Cisneros directed DOD travelers to begin using MyTravel, when possible.   

That direction has now been rescinded. Instead, travelers are instructed to use DTS for all new travel that ends after July 13, 2023.  

Cisneros said DOD will cease MyTravel operations in September 2023.  

Officials within the DOD's Defense Human Resources Activity said continued development of the MyTravel system is no longer in the best interests of the Department.  

Reasons for that include decreases in travel due to COVID-19 , increases in virtual meetings, and a shift in departmental focus to achieving a clean financial audit.  

According to a DOD press release, the department spends about $9 billion annually on travel, with temporary duty travel comprising about 70 percent of all travel vouchers.  

For More Information  "MyTravel" Update      Repeal of Mandatory Use of MyTravel   

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‘Indefinite’ Defense Department IDs Inconvenience Air Travelers, May Be Dropped as Acceptable Identification

Military retirees and some spouses or dependents whose next-generation Department of Defense identification cards have an "INDEF" expiration date continue to face problems using their IDs to traverse Transportation Security Administration checkpoints at U.S. airports.

And a potential solution under consideration at TSA -- that the agency drops the IDs, known as USIDs, as acceptable forms of identification when stricter travel requirements are implemented next year -- is sure to irritate those who like using their military IDs instead of a state driver's license or passport for travel.

Nearly a dozen military retirees have contacted Military.com in the past two years with concerns that their ID cards marked INDEF, meaning they have an indefinite expiration date, don't work with TSA screening technology in airports across the country.

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Former service members have run into the issue at Chicago O'Hare International, Seattle-Tacoma International, Orlando International, Tampa International, San Diego International and elsewhere.

According to TSA press secretary R. Carter Langston, the problem centers around USIDs that lack an expiration date. The "INDEF" designation cannot be read by the TSA's Credential Authentication Technology. When the CAT unit does not detect an expiration date, the CAT screen will display an "EXPIRED" alert, according to Langston.

The TSA officer is supposed to ask for another acceptable form of ID that can be read by the CAT unit, Langston said. If the passenger does not have another acceptable form of ID, the officer "will conduct manual inspection of the DoD ID presented as these IDs are currently acceptable forms of ID," Langston said in a statement.

The issue is largely a matter of inconvenience, since many people travel with a driver's license, passport or other form of identification.

But for DoD ID card holders, it could become a major problem beginning May 7, 2025, when all travelers and visitors to the U.S. will be required to have a passport, a state-verified REAL ID or another form of identification designated as acceptable by TSA.

Since the REAL ID Act of 2005 was passed, Defense Department IDs holders have been told their IDs are compliant and acceptable in lieu of a REAL ID and many have not bothered to get a REAL ID compatible state identification card.

They may need to or begin traveling with a passport, because given the ongoing issues, TSA is considering dropping DoD IDs from their list of accepted identification before the REAL ID requirement goes into effect, according to a source with knowledge of ongoing discussions between TSA and the Defense Department.

The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment on the proposal, and Langston said he would not "confirm or deny discussions that are pre-decisional in nature."

But the proposal does not sit well among some former service members who spent decades serving their country and take pride in carrying a military ID.

"You can get on any military base in the country, but you can't get on an airplane with a military ID card? I don't agree with that at all," said a military retiree based in Washington state who requested that his name not be used to protect how he learned of the proposal.

The source added that the decision is not final and discussions were ongoing.

The Defense Department updated the new IDs, known as USID, for active-duty family members, military retirees and their dependents, reservists and Medal of Honor recipients in 2020, the first upgrade to the cards since 1993.

The USID cards look similar to Common Access Cards, which are issued to active-duty personnel, but they don't have a built-in chip. They were created to have durable lamination, full-color photos and enhanced security features to make them less able to counterfeit or misuse.

When the USIDs were introduced, TSA's scanning system was unable to read their barcodes. That issue largely was fixed in 2022 with a software update , and DoD ID cards work for most individuals whose cards have an expiration date.

But the problem continues for IDs with the "INDEF" date. And retirees aren't happy about it.

"It's been my assumption all along [that I could fly with a DoD ID card]," said the Washington-based retired officer. "I had an old ID until just a couple of months ago, and it worked just fine."

Related: Defense Department Expands ID Card Renewals by Mail to US-Based Retirees, Dependents

Patricia Kime

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Pentagon set to send $1 billion in new military…

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Breaking News

Madeline soto: stephan sterns charged with first-degree murder, pentagon set to send $1 billion in new military aid to ukraine once biden signs bill.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon is poised to send $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday as the Senate moved ahead on long-awaited legislation to fund the weapons Kyiv desperately needs to stall gains being made by Russian forces in the war .

The decision comes after months of frustration, as bitterly divided members of Congress deadlocked over the funding, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson to cobble together a bipartisan coalition to pass the bill. The $95 billion foreign aid package, including billions for Israel and Taiwan, passed the House on Saturday, and the Senate approved it Tuesday. President Joe Biden said he would sign it Wednesday.

The votes are the result of weeks of high-voltage debate, including threats from Johnson’s hard-right faction to oust him as speaker. About $61 billion of the aid is for Ukraine.

The package includes an array of ammunition, including air defense munitions and large amounts of artillery rounds that are much in demand by Ukrainian forces, as well as armored vehicles and other weapons. The U.S. officials said some of the weapons will be delivered very quickly to the battlefront — at times within days — but it could take longer for other items to arrive. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid had not yet been publicly announced.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, would not confirm the package or details, but said the U.S. has a robust logistical system in place, built over the past two years of weapons’ deliveries to Ukraine, and is “doing everything we can to be poised to respond quickly” once the bill is signed. He said the U.S. has storehouses of military equipment in Europe and — as it’s done in the past — can tap those to get aid into Ukraine within days.

America’s infusion of weapons comes on the heels of an announcement by the U.K. on Tuesday, pledging an additional $620 million in new military supplies for Ukraine, including long-range missiles and 4 million rounds of ammunition.

The announcement reflects Biden’s promise Monday in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. would send the badly needed air defense weapons once the Senate approved the bill. Zelensky said in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, that Biden also assured him that a coming package of aid would include long-range and artillery capabilities.

The latest tranche of weapons will be provided through presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, which pulls systems and munitions from existing U.S. stockpiles and sends them quickly to the war front. Some of the munitions are already in Europe, so could move within days to Ukrainian forces.

Last week, an array of U.S. leaders described how urgently Ukraine needs the infusion of aid. Without it, said CIA Director Bill Burns, Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year. And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told House members that conditions on the battlefield were shifting and Russian forces were making incremental gains.

Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bluntly describe the situation to the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, saying Ukraine is facing ” dire battlefield conditions .” Desperate Ukrainian troops are rationing or running out of ammunition on the front lines.

During a virtual meeting last Friday of defense ministers in the NATO-Ukraine Council, Austin underscored the need for “immediate, concerted action” on air defense weapons for Kyiv, the Pentagon said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Zelenskyy attended the meeting, along with other NATO allies.

Pentagon leaders were preparing to meet with defense officials from Europe and around the world on Friday to discuss international aid for Ukraine. The gathering — created by Austin and known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — has been meeting about monthly for the past two years, but in recent sessions officials have expressed growing consternation over the U.S. gridlock.

More than $20 billion in the aid bill is earmarked to replenish U.S. military stocks that have been depleted because they were sent to Ukraine.

Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion , the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine. For the bulk of that time, the aid packages were moving routinely every few weeks. But the money was drying up by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. And by mid-December, the Pentagon said it had run out of money and had to stop sending weapons because, without the funding package stalled in Congress, it could no longer afford to replace them.

The $1 billion package was first reported by Reuters.

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